Aimee Wildstone – LexBloghttps://www.lexblog.com
Legal news and opinions that matterSat, 25 May 2019 12:44:32 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10https://www.lexblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cropped-favicon-1-32x32.pngAimee Wildstone – LexBloghttps://www.lexblog.com
3232Happy Birthday, LexBlog!https://www.lexblog.com/2019/04/15/happy-birthday-lexblog/
Mon, 15 Apr 2019 16:45:54 +0000https://www.lexblog.com/2019/04/15/happy-birthday-lexblog/It feels too long since I’ve devoted time to think about things that inspire gratitude in my life. One big part of my life that I can feel really grateful for is my work.

I found LexBlog almost 3 years ago (in May 2016). I just finished a certificate course at the University of Washington for Java Programming and was looking for a software company where I could move into a more technical support role. Then I found LexBlog.

I knew this company was different before I applied because they emphasized having a good cover letter to share my story. While my resume is a nice snapshot of my journey, it doesn’t convey my passion or decisions that lead me here, or where I see myself heading. I recognized then what I know now – I stumbled upon something special that I couldn’t let pass by me.

It’s LexBlog’s birthday today, so what better time to share some ways that LexBlog has inspired gratitude in my life

I’m grateful for work-life balance.We work hard at LexBlog, but we also work smart and make sure that time is devoted to enriching other parts of our lives. Most people spend the majority of their time working, commuting, running errands/tasks/chores, then hopefully time for things that bring them joy. The activities that bring me joy are planned first, and outside of that time, I devote myself to being present and using my passions for learning and problem-solving. The amount of energy and time we can give varies on so many factors and LexBlog gets it.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with many creative and driven people.
My typical day at work is fast paced with different types of challenges and opportunities to learn, on any given day I have a new opportunity to better myself. Our customers are intelligent and driven to navigate the landscape of law blogging, which inspires me to bring my best self to collaborate with them. LexBlog is a small but mighty group of people who bring to the table different skillsets but underneath share some common values and ideals. There’s a beautiful synergy of collaboration growing at LexBlog.

I’m grateful for a company that values my health and wellbeing.
My father passed away right before Christmas last year. Without hesitation, LexBlog gave me the time I needed to sort through all of the things that followed and piece myself back together. Having the support of my colleagues reminded me that I’m valued and cared about, which in turn helped my healing tremendously.

I’m grateful for a company mission that I can stand behind.
Some companies have a mission to outcompete their biggest competitor or make the highest profits that they can. While there’s nothing wrong with these missions, they don’t speak to me as much as helping make the law accessible to all people. It’s probably the idealist millennial in me that steered me away from the companies’ whose missions didn’t align with my values. When you really believe in something, finding purpose and giving your 100% towards it becomes so much easier.

I feel like I’m one of the lucky few that stumbled onto something special, and I’m honored to be a part of the journey as LexBlog continues to evolve. Happy Birthday, LexBlog! I look forward to where we will go.

]]>I’m taking a different directionhttps://www.lexblog.com/2019/03/29/im-taking-a-different-direction/
Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:06:20 +0000https://www.lexblog.com/2019/03/29/im-taking-a-different-direction/I created Cascadia Burner with the intention of using this blog as a soundboard for Burner events but I’ve decided this isn’t what I want to do so I’m taking another direction.

Blogging for me is and always has been a way for me to figure out what I believe and what I understand about the world. A few wise people have reminded me that you don’t know what you know until you write it out and this is true for me on so many levels.

I’m not limiting my thoughts to one subject anymore, and I’ll use this blog for figuring out what I know.

I don’t really watch horror movies or read horror novels, mostly because I don’t like how they make me feel and I’m not interested in gore or violence, but I enjoy scaring people. There’s something primal about scaring and being scared that I think has roots in the fact that we are all animals with no real predators.

I have the opportunity to scare with the Georgetown Morgue this season thanks to some friends and had my first scare last night which still has me pumped up from the rush this morning. I enjoy scaring because it gives me the rush of the hunt, and I think a lot of people come to the Morgue to feel the adrenaline rush of feeling hunted.

Thats me on the left

One of my favorite hobbies when I was a kid was scaring my little brother, mostly because my brother’s reactions were always so over the top. I later learned that my brother sometimes played up his reactions to get me in trouble (fake panic attacks, that little genius).

Thanks to my little brother, I learned the foundational elements of scaring and how to scare people.

The element of surprise

At the foundation of any good scare is the element of surprise, catching people when they least expect something is the easiest way to scare someone.

With my brother I would sometimes hide in a dark room for an hour waiting for him to walk into the room so I could scare him. At the haunt I got a lot of screams by standing behind a hidden door and ripping it open as soon as people entered the room, or standing in a dark corner and suddenly jerking alive when people started passing by me.

Phobias

Everyone has a fear, or at least most people do. When we look at the genre of horror we see a lot of tropes, and for good reason because there’s a good chance that someone is scared of that thing.

My brother’s fear was clowns, so scaring him was easy once I knew, but it took some trial and error with creepy dolls, fake spiders/snakes, and other random failures to narrow it down.

The Morgue uses a lot of these tropes in their characters as well as in the actual building itself. Once you get a reaction out of someone you know you’ve struck gold.

The fear of the unknown

The fear of the unknown is what makes haunted houses like the Georgetown Morgue so successful. The owner of the Georgetown Morgue told me that most people visiting the Morgue are going for the first time or bringing others there for the first time. The magic of the unknown is it causes our primate brains to go wild with imagination and pump our brains full of survival chemicals.

I remember my first visit to the Morgue very vividly a few years ago: the dark narrow winding and twisting halls, and the shock and confusion of the various scenes and interactions with the actors. Experiencing it when I had no previous knowledge is what made it absolutely terrifying: I had no notion of what was coming next.

Being a part of the Haunt was a completely different experience and allowed me to learn the layout, meet the actors, and the secret passages throughout the winding path. I’ll never be able to experience the Morgue the same way as the first time but now I’m on the other side.

]]>I’m trying out the Gutenberg editor and its not so scaryhttps://www.lexblog.com/2018/10/09/im-trying-out-the-gutenberg-editor-and-its-not-so-scary/
Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:27:19 +0000https://www.lexblog.com/2018/10/09/im-trying-out-the-gutenberg-editor-and-its-not-so-scary/

Today, our Director of Product, Jared Sulzdorf, announced in our Slack channel that the Gutenberg editor plugin was installed on our Donuts blog so I thought I would take this opportunity to try out the new editor and write something!

I’m not the type of person that’s afraid of trying new things or taking a risk, especially if I think the risk is worth the reward. For example, one of my favorite hobbies is fire dancing, which is inherently full of risk (yes I burn myself sometimes). But when the news of this new WordPress editor came out there was a lot of controversy and backlash in the WordPress community. The unknown(s) of this new editor seemed scary – will it still work with my plugins?? Will the bugs be resolved? Will my blog implode??

I looked at the Gutenberg test editor a few months ago and was surprised with just how different it looked. What happened to the familiar post editor that I knew and loved?? I’m ashamed to say that instead of trying it, I closed the browser tab and didn’t look back, rejecting the coming change instead of embracing it.

I’m not surprised that the new editor is a very different writing experience, the “blocks” feature is pretty cool and interactive. I like how I can move individual blocks of text and even apply custom background and text colors to my blocks! Apparently you can even format and save blocks for future posts. Adding media in a block is a breeze! I also like how Publishing tools, Categories, Tags, Featured Image and Excerpt fields have moved to one location in the “Document” tab:

Sometime in the near future, I read this post in WP Tavern that offered an explanation for why its time for WordPress to make a big change. It reminded me that change is sometimes hard, sometimes scary, but its necessary for us to learn and grow.

Now I’m using the Gutenberg editor to figure out my thoughts and share them just like I always have, and its not so scary.

]]>Moving Forwardhttps://www.lexblog.com/2018/06/01/moving-forward/
Sat, 02 Jun 2018 00:49:03 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2018/06/01/moving-forward/Today is National Donut Day, and its been a quiet support day for the Success team, probably because everyone is looking for free donuts. In all honesty, I’m happy for the less chaotic days of summer so I can focus on longer term goals I have at LexBlog as well as reflect on the past and focus on the path forward.

Today is a life changing day for my family and I because we are moving into our first home as homeowners today. I know what you’re thinking, you bought a house in Seattle?? Isn’t the market there crazy??

Yes. It is.

Our journey began in December of 2017 when we met our agent wandering an Amazon campus looking for clients. Little did we know that our meeting would turn into 4 months of non-stop house visits, hours of daily research, hours driving neighborhoods, and hundreds of open house visits. Luckily, with our hometown advantage and a very early start in studying the Seattle market (we started seriously researching in November 2017) we only had to spend every weekend (all weekend) searching until our offer was accepted on April 1st 2017. With our rent-back period now over per our agreement with the old owners, we are finally moving into our home ending our 6ish month journey.

Getting your foot into the door in a real estate market like Seattle is definitely a battle, but looking back on the journey I’m happy we went to bat.

A huge thanks goes to our wonderful agent Marissa Natkin of Keller & Williams whose expertise, patience, and advice helped us find our dream home in a crazy, competitive, market. Also to my partner for keeping me going when I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore, and to my colleagues at LexBlog for cheering me on and listening to me talk about the housing market for the past 6 months.

Onward!

]]>Things I wish clients knew about LexBlog Part 2https://www.lexblog.com/2018/01/09/things-wish-clients-knew-lexblog-part-2/
Tue, 09 Jan 2018 21:23:19 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2018/01/09/things-wish-clients-knew-lexblog-part-2/I decided to start a series about things I wanted to communicate to our clients or really cool things that I thought they should know. In my first post, Things I wish clients knew about LexBlog, I shared our story of moving from a custom blog/website building agency to a Software as a Service platform – but what does this mean?

Does LexBlog still build blogs?

The short answer is yes but this process has changed dramatically and (in my opinion) for the better!

The old blog creation process involved a Photoshop PSD file, and while this file had layers of imagery and elements, it wasn’t a website, it was just a static image. This image is passed back and forth multiple times with critiques and changes – sometimes this process would take months. Then once the PSD specs were approved, THEN we build a custom website.

If any readers have ever built a custom website from scratch (from a mockup image) you know this process is lengthy, challenging, and in the end very costly for all parties. The real challenge with this process was translating a flat image into a dynamic, functional, real website.

Apple Fritter is our solution for live website creation

Our Apple Fritter software is a different approach to creating a website – we have built an extensive live website design software using the WordPress core customize.php. This allows us to create your design on a live website real time meaning we can make design changes and present you with your blog in a matter of days!

Gone are the days (or months) of lengthy custom website projects – we’ve built a tool for building a blog or website, no PSD mockups required.

]]>Before you submit a support ticket, try clearing your browser cachehttps://www.lexblog.com/2017/11/02/submit-support-ticket-try-clearing-browser-cache/
Thu, 02 Nov 2017 21:23:16 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/11/02/submit-support-ticket-try-clearing-browser-cache/Have you ever visited your blog and something looked funny or broken?
How about when LexBlog support told you we updated something but when you looked at your blog you don’t see the update there?

Before you send an email to support or pick up the phone, you should try clearing your browser cache. I’m not kidding!

If you don’t see the changes/updates that were just made to your website, browser caching is usually the culprit!

Clear the cache!

For tech support folks browser caching is pretty much the bane of our existence because it’s such a commonly missed step when trying to troubleshoot a website browser issue. With nearly every support ticket I find myself asking clients if they cleared their browser cache as a first step, or reminding clients they need to clear their cache to see the changes in their browser. I’m not trying to be annoying, it really does fix the issue most of the time!

]]>One reason I like working at WeWorkhttps://www.lexblog.com/2017/10/26/one-reason-like-working-wework/
Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:51:07 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/10/26/one-reason-like-working-wework/

There’s cold brew on tap! I repeat there’s cold brew on tap!! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!!

First stop in the office each morning.

This is what went through my head when Garry Vander Voort told us our new WeWork building has cold brew on tap (along with the mini alarms going off in my head).

I’ve never been much of a morning person because I’m usually up late into the night because my creativity/energy seems to peak sometime around 11 PM – Midnight. As a result I rely heavily on my morning coffee to help me feel like a human.

I’m also saving so much money on coffee each week. It’s a win thanks WeWork!

Behold the cold brew in all it’s splendor.
]]>Things I wish clients knew about LexBloghttps://www.lexblog.com/2017/10/20/things-i-wish-clients-knew-about-lexblog/
Fri, 20 Oct 2017 21:02:28 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/10/20/things-i-wish-clients-knew-about-lexblog/If you have requested a ticket, called our support line, or started a chat, chances are you’ve communicated with me or another member of our LexBlog Success team. We’re the front line of all support requests and questions from our blogging community: a network of innovative folks looking to change and influence the law – and its growing bigger every day!

Working in customer support has its positives and its struggles, here’s what I wish our clients knew about LexBlog:

LexBlog changed from an Agency to a Software as a Service (SAS) Company

If you are a long-time member of our community you may remember a time when LexBlog created you a website from scratch with a Photoshop PSD file as a mockup, then through 500+ rounds of tweaking a PSD image we finally had a approved design which our developers would then build into a website.

Each website was custom, and because of this customization it could take months of development and edits to create a blog. The end result was a custom site, that also may have included custom features or functionality that aren’t scalable if you have five practice groups eagerly waiting to start blogging on their new blog. That’s why we created our blogging Software, Apple Fritter. With Apple Fritter we can create a new website and design in less than a week.

We’ve built Apple Fritter on the industry standards and best practices for Mobile responsive design including: custom font kits chosen for readability on the web, spacing of elements optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop devices, and SEO optimization by design (and function). The best part? If you have an Apple Fritter blog, your blog is receiving new features and updates as our software continues to improve – something we cannot do on a single custom site.

]]>Decompression lessons from a virgin burnerhttps://www.lexblog.com/2017/09/10/decompression-lessons-from-a-virgin-burner/
Sun, 10 Sep 2017 19:53:40 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/09/10/decompression-lessons-from-a-virgin-burner/I’ve been off the playa for almost a week, and I’ve had a few people ask me things like: What was your favorite thing you saw? Favorite experience? I’m struggling with how to answer that and felt obligated (in the moment) to give some kind of response.

It’s hard to sum up the total collection of thoughts and feelings I experienced on the playa into one moment in time. How do you measure a journey as a moment in time? How do you measure a rollercoaster of thoughts, energy, and emotion? I don’t have a simple answer because there isn’t a simple answer, all I have are a collection of learning lessons:

My body isn’t as flexible in extreme conditions. I knew this before living on the playa but I still tried to push myself regardless of my best instincts. I pushed myself into heat exhaustion on Tuesday and this almost cost me the rest of my burn. It took a few days of resting, recovery and a lesson to listen to what my body is telling me. If I’m too tired to dance or play then I probably need to cut back on activity and rest.

I like to be busy, I like to have a job, and I like to feel appreciated for my contributions. In fact, if I don’t feel appreciated I’ll (have a semi-breakdown and) move on to another job where I feel appreciated. Acceptance, and feeling welcomed by people is more important to me than I’d like to admit.

I will always be a work in progress. If I want to grow and improve myself, I have to surround myself with people who want to learn and grow as well. Following through with commitments, challenging thinking, and holding others accountable are traits that require giving energy (and require challenging passiveness). I’m learning to recognize people who are worth giving time and energy.

I’m starting to understand what being an empath means or at least understanding why my emotions can sometimes overwhelm me. I’ve always been very sensitive to feeling emotions in myself and in other people. When I was younger it was difficult to deal with the constant bombardment of emotion giving me panic attacks, clouding my ability to think (reason), or even speak to people. I’ve learned how to make sense of emotions in myself and others and recognize the “why” behind them. I’ve learned to recognize myself, at my core, and feel at home with myself. I value the ability to see people now.

For fun, here are some awesome memories:

Sunsets from the Firehouse.

Feeling present at all times (sorry Mom I couldn’t bring myself to take pictures but some friends of mine did manage to capture me).

Starlight walks and bike rides.

Watching storms roll over the playa, the chaos of dust storms.

Riding on top of the Shoe, wind blowing past me.

Chasing art cars on my bike. Playing chicken with an art car (they were not happy with me).

Disco fish dance party deep playa.

Hardware camp grinder show then deep playa adventures in the tool box!

Twirling on a lyra hoop under a fire breathing dragon.

Dance parties, fire spinning in deep playa.

Climbing, climbing, climbing higher!

Connecting with the most beautiful souls.

Working together and building a community.

Dancing in the Conclave then watching the man explode into an inferno.

Mimosa toasts with close friends.

The power of togetherness, and humanity’s connection.

The temple burn release.

]]>Glamping. It’s like camping but with really expensive unpractical shit.https://www.lexblog.com/2017/08/21/glamping-like-camping-really-expensive-unpractical-shit/
Tue, 22 Aug 2017 00:06:21 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/08/21/glamping-like-camping-really-expensive-unpractical-shit/I have a confession to make. I love music and festivals (that’s a given) so I finally spent a stupid amount of money purchasing a Lotus Bell tent to up my festival glamping game. I’ve been eyeing the lotus “Bud” tent for a while and finally made the plunge.

Part of my contribution to my camp this year is I am bringing my little tent has a hangout space and tea house (I’ll be serving teas as my mad hatter alias) for camp visitors. Here’s a teaser of the setup, I’ll make sure to post more photos of the final setup at the burn:

The inside roof of the tent, I have a lotus lamp in the lotus tent!

Hand painted Tea House sign with LED strips mounted on edges. I made dis.

I had the chance to test the tent out on a trip to Thompson Falls, MT and brought my tent to Summer Meltdown music festival in Darrington, WA. If anyone is considering investing in one of these tents I’ve decided to list a pros vs. cons list which I will update after the burn as well:

Pros:

Tent is very beautifully designed! I purchased a limited version with bright purple canvass so it really stands out, I got a lot of compliments and visitors to my tent!

Held up well in light rain. I had the tent out one night for a pacific northwest rain (so not a heavy rain). I was able to wipe off excess rain drops on the tent the next morning, and the cotton canvas dried completely on its own within a few hours. Stayed completely dry inside.

It saved me from bugs. I was camping in a dense forest in Thompson Falls, MT with basically 3 million hungry mosquitoes hovering outside trying to destroy me, ants and spiders crawling all over the outside of the tent as well. I was safe and bug free inside as long as mesh windows and doors were kept zipped shut.

The tent materials are all made with the highest quality (minus the poles which I will explain in cons).

There is no center pole in the tent so it feels very spacious, I can stand in the tent comfortably (I’m 5’4″). Amble room to hang out with 6-7 people sitting, 4 people sleeping. If you are looking for a tent to accommodate more you’ll want to go with the larger more expensive models.

The carry duffel bag is fairly easy to carry with two people, it packs away the tent and other gear very nicely, I haven’t had to fight to get everything back in like some tent bags.

Once set up, the tent is incredibly sturdy & solid. I even had people leaning on the walls (don’t let them do that!) on a hill and the tent leaned a little bit but nothing broke. Speaks to the quality of the materials.

Cons:

Even packed in the duffel bag the tent is large, it takes up the entire back seat of my Honda Civic so be prepared if you need to pack a lot of gear.

The tent is time consuming to setup and requires two people. I haven’t been able to set it up by myself yet. That being said, this tent is best for setting up for longer periods of time (multiple days like a festival or extended car camping trip) otherwise it’s just not worth the hassle. Once setup all your friends will want to hang out in it with you and are more likely to help set it up for that reason

If the tent is in direct sunlight it gets VERY hot. I likely won’t be going inside this tent during the day at the burn. Disappointing for a canvass tent and I specifically asked the Lotus Bell customer service about this before purchasing.

Out of the box, the tent poles were already broken but I think it is a factory defect. Part of the tent instructions stated that you should be able to twist the poles so that hinges bend the right way, however some of the pole hinges will not twist at all and are facing the wrong way. While this hasn’t caused issue yet I can see with regular use these may break eventually. I found that I just have to take the tent poles out after each use otherwise they might break trying to twist the tent up for packing. Since I purchased this tent the company no longer sells the tents with poles (instead they switched to an air beam technology, likely because these tent poles suck).

]]>Washington Fire Collective is performing at burning man!https://www.lexblog.com/2017/08/03/washington-fire-collective-performing-burning-man/
Thu, 03 Aug 2017 06:36:31 +0000https://lexblognetwork.wpengine.com/2017/08/03/washington-fire-collective-performing-burning-man/The Washington Fire Collective (of 2017) had their first kickoff meeting towards the end of January of this year. Since then the group met together twice a month to dance, practice, learn, play, and grow together. Led by our awesome Shins JPeace LoveCircus and Kim Lewis!

This looked like two large group practices per month and once we split into our chosen themed dance pods, we added two group practices minimum with our pods (in between the large group practices). As the year went on our work ramped up to 7 hour practices in year June to film our video for our final performance submission.

Here’s the final compilation of our burns, sweat and tears:

This year is my year of first, my first real fire performances, my first time in a dance troupe creating our own choreography, and my first burn.

I’m so humbled by the crazy talent, hard work, and creativity of this group. I’ve met so many amazing people and feel honored to perform with them on the playa and watch the man burn (together) this year.

This year was the year I decided to go to burning man, and I told myself a long time ago that I wasn’t going to burning man until I was prepared to contribute to something bigger than myself – no matter what it took.

The theme this year is radical ritual. Fire is spiritual to me, and fire dancing is admittedly my favorite hobby because fire feels so primal, its my own personal ritual and I knew there was no better offering for me to give than dance.